WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross posted his final blog entry of 2012 on Monday and gave his thoughts on what the new year has in store for the WWE Universe. This is a highly recommended read that includes JR’s thoughts on the dangers of a complacent locker room, what each man has to do in order to reach their full potential and why WWE’s future is so bright. You can read the full blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said he’s thankful for:

@CMPunk never taking no for an answer and grinding it out to become, arguably, WWE’s MVP in 2012.

Guys like @WWEDanielBryan getting his shot and taking advantage of it. He’s one of my favorite wrestlers. When was the last time Daniel Bryan had a ‘bad’ match? Plus, Bryan knew he that had to learn to verbally communicate better to get to the next level and he has.

Long time indy wrestlers like @AntonioCesaro who paid their dues many times over before finally getting to perform at the highest level within his profession. Cesaro is a beast with whom I have great respect.

@HeelZiggler who is so athletically gifted and is beginning to put it all together especially on the mic. I fully expect Ziggler to have a banner 2013 if he stays healthy as Dolph competes at a very physical level.

@WadeBarrett finally being healthy. He’s a keeper and is a smart athlete who will do what it takes to elbow his way to the top and to do what is professionally necessary to stay there.

@WWESheamus is a beloved throwback in our business. Completely professional, a role model for the younger talents and a tough athlete who has not even scratched the surface as to how good he can be. If WWE had a locker room full of talents like Sheamus, they would be ecstatic.

@JohnCena for continuing to do what he believes and for pulling the WWE wagon. John’s Make A Wish work alone will get him to heaven.

@CodyRhodesWWE for turning the corner. Love his upside and hope that he pushes himself to achieve the greatness for which he seems destined.

@TheDamienSandow for never quitting on his dreams.

@JCLayfield for taking some friendly fire at me on @WWE TV and for taking JR’s Beef Jerky along with him on his mountain climbing adventures. John has made WWE TV better since his return. But he’s still a Texan.

@RealKingRegal for spending so much time with me and helping me to keep learning about the business that we both love. Mr. Regal is a wonderful teacher, mentor and historian of the mat game. He’s a valuable asset to the future growth of WWE Talent Development.

@Fgbrisco aka Jerry Brisco for battling his way to good health and for having amazing relationships in the amateur wrestling world that benefits WWE every day and for many years to come. Jerry is a part of my Okie family.

@steveaustinBSR simply for being a great friend and for always keeping in touch no matter how busy he is or where he is.

@shawnMichaels for the man he has become. Shawn is an inspiration to many for the way he lives his life and for what he’s overcome. HBK looked into the mirror and with God’s help changed his life to one that inspires many of us.

WWE taped Friday’s episode of SmackDown on Sunday night from the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. Here are spoiler results for the show, courtesy of Prowrestling.net:

* They opened with Randy Orton returning and cutting a promo about wanting to win the Royal Rumble. This led to Sheamus coming out and pointing out he won last year and will again. Big Show and Antonio Cesaro got involved to set up a tag match main event.

* The Miz defeated Heath Slater (w/Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal). The other 3MB members were kicked out by the referee later in the match.

* The Great Khali, Hornswoggle, and Natalya defeated Primo, Epico, and Rosa Mendes.

* Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Title.

* Tamina Snuka defeated Layla.

* Sheamus and Randy Orton defeated The Big Show and Antonio Cesaro.

The dark match main event saw Sheamus and Big Show wrestle to a no contest.

WWE is in Richmond, Virginia tonight for a rare Sunday night SmackDown taping. Prior to the SmackDown taping, the following matches were taped for next week’s WWE Main Event & Saturday Morning Slam broadcasts:

WWE Main Event (Airing 1/2):

* US Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. The Great Khali

* Wade Barrett competes in a Gauntlet Match

Saturday Morning Slam (1/5):

– Sheamus vs. Michael McGillicutty

* PICTURES: JOHN CENA & DANIEL BRYAN Spend Christmas With The BELLA TWINS

SaukValley.com has an article up profiling Alex “Zander” Jones, who recently signed a three-year developmental deal and is moving to Tampa, Florida this week to begin training at NXT.

While he was working on his masters in strength and conditioning at USC, Jones met former WWE superstars Rikishi and Gangrel at the Los Angeles Fitness Expo. They convinced him to start training at the KnokX wrestling school and just a week later, he was met John Cena at the USC weight room when WWE was in town for a RAW taping. Cena was so impressed with Jones that he invited him to a WWE tryout camp this past August.

WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Gerald Brisco were so impressed with Jones that they told him he could be a top WWE superstar one day. Jones told SaukValley.com:

“They all said, ‘You could be our guy. Look at John Cena. That could be you.’ Now, anything less than being a champ would be a disappointment.”

Jones can be followed on Twitter at @TheZanderJones.

– WWE will tape next week’s WWE Main Event and SmackDown broadcasts tonight from the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. Main Event (airing 1/2) will feature US Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. the Great Khali, who won a battle royal on last week’s show to earn the title shot.

SmackDown (airing 1/4) will feature World Heavyweight champion Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio. The advertised dark match main event will see Big Show teming up with Sheamus against Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio.

– Here is the latest episode of “WWE’s Are You Serious?” featuring Josh Matthews and “Road Dogg” BG James:

Laugh alongside Road Dogg and Josh Mathew as they share more ridiculous clips with the WWE Universe, including one from The Gobbledy Gooker and Tugboat. Watch “Are You Serious?”

WWE taped Monday night’s New Year’s Eve edition of RAW on Saturday night from Washington, D.C. Here’s a spoiler-free preview for the show:

* There will be a special “Champion’s Choice” theme, where WWE champions get to pick their opponents.

* The Miz hosts Miz TV with his guest, John Cena

* John Cena & The Miz vs. Team Rhodes Scholars

* World Heavyweight champion Big Show vs. An opponent of his choosing.

* US Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. An opponent of his choosing.

* Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston vs. An opponent of his choosing.

* Team Hell No vs. Opponents of their choosing.

* Divas Champion Eve Torres vs. an opponent of her choosing.

* Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

* Ryback vs. The Shield in a 3-on-1 match.

Plus, there will be a special New Year’s toast with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee – and John Cena is invited.

*SPOILER* MAJOR Title Change At Saturday Night’s RAW Tapings (Picture)

– It was announced at Saturday night’s WWE RAW tapings from Washington, D.C. that RAW will return to DC on April 1st, 2013 – the final RAW before WrestleMania 29. An online pre-sale begins later this week with the password WWERAWDC.

– One of our correspondents at Saturday night’s WWE RAW tapings from Washington, DC noted that arena staff members confiscated a large “END THE PG ERA” sign.

– Next Friday’s SmackDown (1/4) will feature World Heavyweight champion Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio.

* The Miz kicks off RAW by announcing that Vickie Guerrero has declared that tonight’s show will have a “Champions Choice” theme, with “all” titles on the line tonight (except for CM Punk’s WWE title) and the champions getting to pick their opponents.

* The Miz hosts MizTV with his guest, John Cena. Cena starts talking about the holiday season but is interrupted by Team Rhodes Scholars, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Cena points out that Washington Redskins quarterback RGIII, who was featured on WWE RAW several weeks ago,is in the crowd. It’s announced that The Miz and Cena vs. Rhodes Scholars will be taking place next.

* John Cena and The Miz defeated Team Rhodes Scholars in a long match after Cena hit Sandow with the Attitude Adjustment and got the pin.

* United States Champion Antonio Cesaro comes out and cuts a standard anti-American promo. The opponent he decides to defend the US Championship against tonight is none other than: WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter.

* US Champion Antonio Cesaro defeats Sgt. Slaughter after hitting him with the Neutralizer. After the match, Cesaro hit Slaughter with a second Neutralizer to add insult to injury.

* It’s announced that later in the show, there will be a special New Year’s Eve toast between Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee – with John Cena invited to join in on the celebration.

* Later tonight, The Shield will face Ryback in a 3-on-1 handicap match.

* Backstage, Team Hell No announced they will defend the WWE Tag titles against 3MB.

* Kane & Daniel Bryan defeated Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre. Jinder Mahal was at ringside for the match. After their win, Kane & Daniel Bryan mocked 3MB by doing “air guitar” in the ring, which the crowd popped big for.

* WWE Champion CM Punk comes down to the ring, along with Paul Heman and a doctor. The doctor verifies that CM Punk is indeed unable to compete due to injury and x-rays of CM Punk’s surgically repaired knee are shown on the Titantron. Punk says that due to the condition of his knee, his doctor won’t medically clear him to wrestle Ryback in a TLC match on the January 7th RAW, so the match is off. “No Chance” hits – and out comes WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Vince says it doesn’t matter what the doctor says – a TLC Match will take place on January 7th. Vince questions what CM Punk’s relationship is with The Shield and Brad Maddox and says that if doctors determine that Punk isn’t medically cleared to face Ryback in a TLC match on 1/7, then Paul Heyman will take his place.

* Sheamus defeats Dolph Ziggler by disqualification after The Shield runs down and attacks Sheamus. The Shield stand tall over Sheamus and then exit through the crowd.

* A backstage segment takes place with CM Punk and Paul Heyman. Brad Maddox approaches them and asks Paul Heyman for a job, but Heyman tells him to leave.

* Another backstage segment takes place with WWE Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston and Wade Barrett.

* WWE Divas champion Eve Torres comes out and says she wants to defend against Mae Young, who is not there. Kaitlyn comes out and says she’ll wrestle in place of Mae Young and winds up attacking Eve in the ring. Eve escapes and runs to the back without a match taking place.

* World Heavyweight champion Big Show defeats Ricardo Rodriguez by disqualification after Alberto Del Rio interfered and attacked Big Show. In a bit of comedy, Del Rio came down to the ring in a suit before the match and Ricardo came out driving a fancy sports car.

* Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston by pinfall to capture the Intercontinental championship for a second time. After the match, Josh Matthews interviewed the new champion. Barrett warned the WWE locker room to watch out for the Barrett Barrage in 2013.

* The Shield vs. Ryback in a 3-on-1 match never officially took place. As Ryback was making his entrance, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns attacked him on the ramp. Sheamus and Randy Orton ran out to make the save and The Shield escaped through the crowd. Ryback, Orton and Sheamus celebrated in the ring.

* Up next is the New Year’s Eve toast. Dolph Ziggler came out first in a tuxedo, followed by AJ Lee in a dress and Big E Langston in his wrestling gear. The three of them toasted while showing clips on the Titantron of several moments from 2012 that John Cena would like to forget, including Brock Lesnar attacking him, Big Show delivering a knockout punch and more. Ziggler announces that Cena has been un-invited from the New Year’s toast and orders Langston to guard the ring.
As Ziggler begins to make out with AJ, Cena interrupts. Cena admits that he had some tough times in 2012, but that’s nothing compared to all the WWE superstars that AJ was romantically linked to this year. Cena talks about all the illegitimate children AJ has with various wrestlers and shows pictures on the Titantron of several babies with the faces of WWE superstars and legends Photoshopped onto the bodies.

Cena announces that he’s officially entering himself into the Royal Rumble and promised to win the WWE Championship again in 2013. Cena toasts AJ & Ziggler as what appears to be human waste falls from the arena roof into the ring, covering the heels. AJ & Ziggler freak out as Cena’s music hits and the show goes off the air. Quite a way to end the final RAW of 2012.

* PICTURE of WADE BARRETT Celebrating With His NEW Intercontinental Championship Belt